Twenty-fifth Annual Report of The United States Tariff Commission 1941 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1941 For sale by the SuP"rintendent or Documents. Washington, D. C. • • • • • • • Price 10 cents UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION RAYMOND B. STEVENS, Cha.irrnan OSCAR B. RYDER, Vice Chairman EDGAR B. BROSSARD E. DANA DURAND E. M. WHITCOMB, Acting Secretary Address all communications UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. JI LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL UNITED STATES TARIFF CoMMISSION1 W (J)Jhington, December 1, 1941. Sm: I have the honor to transmit to you the Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the United States Tariff Commission, in compliance with the provisions of Section 332 of the Act of Congress approved June 17, 1930. Respectfully, RAYMOND B. STEVENS, Chavrrruzn. The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, The SPEAKER OF THE HousE OF REPRF.BENTATIVES. m CONTENTS Page Introduction and summary _________ -----_------------______________ I CURRENT WORK Cooperation in the defense program__________________________________ 4 Copper------------------------------------------------------- 5 Long-staple cotton_____________________________________________ 5 Foods-------------------------------------------------------- 5 Stock piles____________________________________________________ 8 Douglas-fir-lumber industry _____________ ----------______________ 8 Crude drugs__________________________________________________ 8 Rubber_______________________________________________________ 8 Synthetic organic chemicals_____________________________________ 9 Mica, graphite, and other strategic nonmetallic materials____________ 9 Refractory brick_______________________________________________ 9 Explosives and fertilizers ___________________ ------------________ 9 United States-Canadian cooperation_____________________________ 9 Wool textiles__________________________________________________ 9 Raw silk and silk waste __ --------------________________________ 10 Cork_________________________________________________________ 10 Priorities ________ ---------____________________________________ 10 Inventories of cost information__________________________________ 10 Labor problems ______ ---------------------____________________ 10 Manila fiber and cordage_______________________________________ 10 Factors affecting prices of certain commodities____________________ 11 Petroleum refining_____________________________________________ 11 Raw wool____________________________________________________ 11 Army purchases of fish_________________________________________ 11 Lend-Lease purchases of fish____________________________________ lZ Lead and zinc_________________________________________________ lZ Pulp, paper, and paper products_________________________________ 12 Cooperation with the Office of Price Administration________________ 12 Studies of costs of production, prices, and profit margins____________ 12 Cooperation with the Economic Defense Board____________________ 13 Trade statistics ____________________ -- ---- _--- _ _ _ ____ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ 14 Iron and steel_________________________________________________ 14 Industrial conservation _____________________________ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 14 Cooperation with Latin America ______ ------------______________ 14 Cooperation with other Government agencies and assistance to Committees of Congress_____________________________________________________ 14 Assistance to Committees of Congress____________________________ 15 Assistance to other Government agencies_________________________ 16 Acknowledgment______________________________________________ 17 Activities in the trade-agreements program: Trade agreements: Agreement with Argentina ___ ----- ______________ ---- ___ - _ _ _ _ 17 Negotiations with Cuba____________________________________ 18 Trade agreements concluded________________________________ 19 Assistance to the Committee for Reciprocity Information___________ 20 Activities under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (general powers): Completed reports_____________________________________________ 20 The Foreign Trade of Latin America_________________________ 21 Latin America as a Source of Strategic and Other Essential Materials_______________________________________________ 21 Reference Manual of Latin American Commercial Treaties (Spanish edition)________________________________________ 24 <W"ar and Its Effect on United States Imports_________________ 24 v VI CONTENTS Activities under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930-Continued. Page Completed reports-Continued. Italian Commercial Policy and Foreign Trade, 1922-1940_______ 25 Regulation of Imports by Executive Action___________________ 25 -lndustries Affected by Trade Agreements_____________________ 26 United States Imports from Japan and Their Relation to the Defense Program and to the Economy of the Country________ 27 -Possibilities of Producing Rubber in the United States and Rubber Conservation ______ -- -------------------------- -- 28 Earthen Floor and Wall Tiles------------------------------- 29 Hogs and Hog Products------------------------------------ 29 Synthetic Organic Chemicals, United States Production and Sales, 1940 ________________ -- -- ---- -------- -- -- - ----- -- -- 30 Analysis of Imports of Miscellaneous Chemicals, 1939 and 1940_ _ 31 Analysis of Imports of Miscellaneous Crude Drugs in 1939____ _ _ 32 Cumulative supplement to "Changes in Import Duties Since the Passage of the Tariff Act of 1930" ____________ - _ - __ ---- __ -- 33 Supplement to List of Tariff Commission Publications__________ 33 United States Imports from Asia, 1938 to 1940________________ 33 United States Imports for ·Consumption of the Principal Com- modities Imported from Japan in 1939_____________________ 33 Current Imports for Consumption of Strategic and Critical Materials _________________________ ---- __ -- --- ---- - ----- - 33 Special investigations: Puerto Rican needlework __________ - _______ - _ -_ -- - - - - - - - - - - - 34 Canned salmon ________________ ---- - ____ - -- __ • _ -- • -·--- • - - - 34 Work in progress: Summaries of tariff information_____________________________ 35 Commodity surveys ______ ----------________________________ 36 Foreign-Trade and Exchange Controls in Germany____________ 36 French Commercial Policy and Foreign Trade, 1919-41-________ 38 Latin American reports: Current Trade Problems in the Western Hemisphere_______ 39 Commercial Policies and Trade Relations of European Pos- sessions in the Caribbean Area_________________________ 39 Assistance to the Paraguayan Government ____________ ------__ 39 Tariff Boards and Commissions.____________________________ 40 Wood pulp and pulpwood investigation______________________ 40 Red-cedar-shingle investigation______________________________ 41 Digests of trade information relating to the Argentine trade agreement______________________________________________ 42 -work under section 336 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (rate-adjustment pro­ vision): Applications__________________________________________________ 42 In-vestigations: Crab meat________________________________________________ 42 Wool-knit gloves and mittens________________________________ 43 Work under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (unfair practices in import trade)__________________________________________________________ 43 Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (discrimination against the trade of ~ the United States) _______________________________________ -------- 43 Activities in the agricultural program: Wheat and wheat flour_________________________________________ 44 Cotton, cotton waste, and cotton textiles_________________________ 45 Other activities: Field work________________________________________ 46 Litigation: Under section 336 of the Tariff Act of 1930: Rubber-soled canvas shoes__________________________________ 47 Tuna fish packed in oil_____________________________________ 47 Handkerchiefs made from cotton cloth_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 48 Under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930: N ongeneralization of concessions in the trade agreement with Cuba__________________________________________________ 48 Scope of trade-agreement concessions_________________________ 49 Work Projects Administration_______________________________________ 50 OONTENTS VII PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATION Page Membership of the Commission _______________________ - _-- - - - - - ----- 50 Staff members detailed to other Government agencies concerned with the defense program ________________________________________________ _ 51 Personnel _________ "----------------------------------------------- 51 Training_____________________________________________________ _ 52 Distribution of the staff ____________________________ - _ -_ -- ------ 52 Student observers and interns ___________________________________ ---- 52 Finances and appropriations, fiscal year 1941_ ________________________ _ 53 Publications _____________________________________________________ _ 53 APPENDIX Reports and other material issued by the Tariff Commission since the passage of the Tariff Act of 1930 __________________________ -------- 55 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY In the 25 years that have elapsed since the creation o:f the Tariff Commission, its activities, affected as they are by both national and international developments, have varied greatly from year to year. At no other period in its history have international developments caused so great a change in the Commission's activities as during the year